


Time's up

by nymphoftheseadogs



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-17
Updated: 2013-12-17
Packaged: 2018-01-04 22:31:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1086420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nymphoftheseadogs/pseuds/nymphoftheseadogs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose gets her Doctor back and they fall in love all over again.</p><p>The Doctor looks backs, he wishes he had told her so many things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Smell of the Rose Garden

I can’t believe he’s in front of me, right in front of me. I could touch him. Oh god! I should hug him. I’m just grinning like an idiot! Then again so is he.  
“I’ve missed you. So much.” He says. I’ve missed him too. More than he knows. Probably more than he should know. I hope I don’t cry. I hope he doesn’t cry. Of course he won’t cry.   
“I’ve missed you more.” I say as I hit him lightly on the shoulder. Or at least I hope it was lightly, did I hit him too hard? Why am I so nervous? I’ll just rub it a bit just in case. Oh was that weird. Look at his face. It was weird. Look at his face! He’s so cute. I missed that face that mad grin of his.   
“How did you? How! Oh, Rose!” He’s hugging me again. God I’ve missed this. He has too, I think. Of course he did I’m brilliant! He’s said so himself.  
“Basically we've been building this, um, travel machine. This, uh, dimension cannon so I could, uh, so I—“ He’s grinning like an idiot. He is an idiot.   
“What?” That grin is going to kill me.  
“So I could come back.” That face, I’m grinning just as big. Do we always do this? “Shut up.” I say, I’m only kidding. He knows that. Of course he knows. He always knows. I can’t wait to go to planets and galaxies and past, presents, and futures. I’ve waited so long. He probably didn’t think I would make it. I knew I would. Of course I would, anything for him. I could hug him forever, and maybe, now, I will.   
“You know you’re brilliant. You’re brilliant. She’s brilliant.” Oh great now he’s “showing me off” to his friends. His friends…who are these people?   
“Um, Doctor.” I gesture to the strangers in front of me. He looks confused, as usual. For a big alien genius he’s a bit thick. Oh look, he’s getting it now. There it is.  
“OH, right this is… Well, um, I don’t actually remember any of their names at the moment. I was just passing through you see.” He’s rubbing his neck. Love that.   
“Right, of course.” I nod sarcastically. He frowns all goofy and I giggle. The strangers introduce themselves and thank my Doctor. We’re just the same as before. Of course we are.   
He’s got my hand now. I’ve forgotten how great this felt, running hand in hand. I’ve forgotten how much I really missed this, missed him. I thought I knew but now, being here with him, I really feel it you know? It’s kind of hitting me all at once and I think I might—oh god. I feel it, on my cheeks. Have I stopped running? I have. He’s looking at me like I’m insane. Maybe I am. It’s just that I’ve forgotten how much he meant. How much we meant. I didn’t think you could ever love anything this much, but it’s more than that. It’s more than love somehow. It’s more than anything.   
“Rose? Are you alright?” Oh I’ve got him worried now. Smiling should help, so I smile.  
“It’s just, I’ve missed you, this, so much. I just—oh it’s silly. Let’s go! There’s things to be doing, people to be saving, planets to be pronouncing wrong!” He’s smiling now too, a bit sadly but it’ll do. I’m just glad we’re running again, hand in hand. Just like before. Just like always. Oh there it is. There’s that big stupid box of ours. Ours? Is it ours? Of course it is the Tardis loves me. It looks just the same as it used to. I never like blue much. It’s my favorite color now, of course. I can’t wait to hear that sound. My favorite noise my favorite everything. I wonder where we’ll go! Maybe back to New York (the 15th one)! Or maybe we’ll go someplace we’ve never been. He promised me Barcelona after all, the planet Barcelona. We could go now. We have so much time, all of it to be exact. The Tardis looks just the same on the inside as well. I’m glad he didn’t remodel it.  
“Where to? We could go anywhere—“ He says grinning at me from the console.   
“In all of time and space. I know.” I smirk. He’s still grinning that proud grin.   
“The Doctor and Rose in the Tardis, just as it should be.” He murmured under a fierce grin.   
“So, Rose Tyler, where would you like to go?” I laugh.  
“You promised me Barcelona. Get to it before I get dropped in another universe please.” He frowns then, a fake one of course. I watch as he whips around the console pulling levers and smashing down on buttons. Sometimes I think he pushes half of them just to show off. Scratch that, I know he does. I love that. It feels like he’s putting on a fantastic show just for me. I guess he is. He better watch it, one of these days he’ll trip or get dizzy and faint. Oh I can’t wait for that day. I guess I’ll have to make sure to stick around this time.   
“You think you’re so impressive.” I grin. His face is priceless. It always is.   
“I am impressive.” He pouts as he yanks down on that last lever. That sound rips through my eardrums and I love it all. We’re ripping around through time and space and dimension and all that, holding on for dear life, laughter, and adventure. We’re gripping the rails and grinning like crazy. If someone didn’t know any better, which they rarely do, they’d take us for complete loons. Maybe we are, I don’t mind either way. We hit the ground cackling away and you’d think it would hurt like hell but we love it. We always have. It’s like I never left and maybe I didn’t, not really. I run to those lovely doors and he hops in front of me arms crossed and face that could melt a puppy. I laugh and he smirks a bit. He opens those doors and my jaw practically falls off my face.   
Barcelona is a sight to see. It’s got rolling hills covered in these flowers of all different shades of all manner of colors. Light browns, gold, oranges, beautiful pastel blues. The grass is the wheat like stuff springing up everywhere and oh, “I love it.” I whisper out of my thoughts. He smiles. The trees twist out of the ground in a golden brown expanse of roots and branches reaching up to the sky the color of the flowers and the grass all blended into one. The leaves on the trees are bright fuchsia sprinkled with those light brown ones. I expected nothing less it’s perfect.   
“Where are the dogs,” I grin, “The ones with no noses.” He laughs, surprised I remembered. Of course I did.   
“In the city, it’s called Catalonia. It’s beautiful you’ll love it. Plus, the shopping’s better than London.” I giggle and roll my eyes as he takes my hand and walk towards Catalonia. He rattles of the history of the planet and city as usual and I’m at home again.   
The city is huge and very impressive. The large white skyscrapers stretch farther than any eye could see. They stand there, modern and retro, with millions of Catalonians roaming the streets. We have a great view from the hill we’re standing on. It reminds me of New New New New New New New New New York.   
“Is there apple grass?” I ask, unable to wipe the enormous grin off my face. He laughs. “Actually, it’s cinnamon.” I roll my eyes. “No really, smell.” He holds up a blade of the wheat grass up to my nose and I sniff. Sure enough it smells like cinnamon. I sit there and gawk at him in disbelief. What is with all the scratch and sniff grass planets? I love them, though, who wouldn’t? We sit there, buried beneath the tall flowers, and immerse ourselves in each other. It turns out we had a lot of catching up to do.  
“…And mum thought it would be a great idea to throw him in and he about had a heart attack! Dad—Pete, was hysterical but mum’s face oh god. You should have been there!” I finished telling him one of the many stories from back in Pete’s World and for most of it he was laughing with me, but I think that last bit got him. His face pulled into a frown, all serious business as usual, and this time he wasn’t goofing around.   
“Rose, I’m so, so sorry. I shouldn’t have left you there—“ I rolled my eyes and lay back and drift into the cloudy sky.   
“Doctor it wasn’t’ something you could contr—“ He kept on frowning that big serious frown.   
“I should have looked harder, tried harder, it’s just I think, maybe, it seems I don’t care that much, to have you around I mean, but I do so much. That’s it really, I care so much about you and I don’t know what I—Its just you’re better without me. You’re safer and better without me and that’s why I didn’t come. I couldn’t come. I just wanted you to know that there’s absolutely no one in all of time and space I would rather—I should have been there. I should have been in those stories.” He’s being ridiculous, well maybe not. I remember feeling this way when he left. Especially when we, humans, finished the dimension canon. I couldn’t believe we finished and that it would work. I was so, obviously, excited, but in the back of my mind I thought about it. He should have been able to; he definitely would have been able to make something like this and much quicker. I always wondered if he was trying. I was sure he was looking for a way to come back to me, but either way I didn’t care I was going back; the Doctor and Rose in the Tardis, whether he liked it or not. I guess he wasn’t trying after all. At least I know why. He thought by having me around he was hurting me. I understand, I suppose. The Doctor has never, and never will be, more wrong. He saved me; I would be stuck in that Hennrick’s department store for the rest of my days if it weren’t for him. Doesn’t he see that? Doesn’t he see how much he’s given me? How better off I am now. He has shown and taught me things most people couldn’t fathom. He’s given me life, or at least a life worth living. He thinks he’s putting us in danger, that we, his companions, don’t understand what we are getting into. But we do. Of course we do.   
“I wouldn’t change any of it for the world. I would rather die on some fantastic adventure on another planet 10 light-years away, about 30 billion years in the future, than not be going on any adventures at all, than staying at home or going to some pointless job just because it’s a bit safer. I would rather live than die not knowing, not feeling, and not seeing. I would rather be with you than safe. That scares you or worries you I suppose, but it’s all worth it. You and what you give to us second-class citizens you hold so highly is worth so much more than the safety of a domestic little life. Not that I wouldn’t want one, just in case you were wondering…” His face was still a bit glum but I saw the tiny smile pulling at his lips. I grinned, so did he and we were off to have an adventure in Barcelona, to cause trouble no doubt. This was it. This was living. This was what I longed for all those years. I loved it.


	2. I wish

I remember that day, that day I got her back. The day I finally took her to Barcelona. We buried our selves in the tall flowers underneath an enormous tree. We lay there and we just talked about nothing. It was one of my favorite days; I’ve had a lot of days so that’s quite an honor. I think you’d find most of my favorite days were with her. She saved me when no one else could she did the impossible. I love her for that. I love her for that and a billion and twenty other things. I love her for her smile, for her laugh, her eyes, her voice, her hair, her everything. I love her for the times she understood, the times she listened, the times she didn’t. I love her for stopping me when I couldn’t stop myself. For making me better, making me whole. I don’t think I could ever thank her properly; I could definitely never repay her. I wonder if she even knows. If she really knows how much she means to me. How brilliant she is. I wish I could tell her, I wish I could tell her so many things. I waited too long. I was too scared to tell her, to really tell her. Maybe she knows. I hope she does. That’s all I really have now is hope. I would trade all the hope in the universe and more for her. I would trade anything for her. I wish I could tell her.   
I wish I could tell her I see her. I wish I could tell her to get up, that she’s got so much left to do. I hate that I left her, that I did this to her. She was always so strong, stronger than any Dalek or Weeping Angel. I guess she wasn’t strong enough for me. I ruined her, I broke her, and I hate myself for it. I hate that I did something so cruel to something so pure. I love her so much. I hope she knows; I need her to know. She needs to get up. I wish I could tell her. I wish I could hug her. I wish too much. Wishes never really come true, or I’d be there, with her, hand in hand running off on some insane adventure we shouldn’t be on. I’d tell her all the things I want, no need, to tell her and more. I’d tell her all the time, everyday, about forty-seven times an hour.   
All she does is lay there now. All I do is watch her, watch her fade away. I hate it. She just lies there, asleep, well sometimes she stares, when she’s not sleeping. That’s worse though. She hardly leaves the house, except to come see me. It’s not really me. Of course it’s not, or I’d tell her, I’d hug her. I might even kiss her if I’m brave enough. I would definitely kiss her. I wish I could tell her that. I want to let her know somehow. I want her to get up, live a bit more. She’s got so much left to do you see. She’s got everything left to do, and I left her, to go it alone. I didn’t mean to, I would never mean to do this to her. Never. I just wish she would go on anyways. She’s done it before, not the same thing though. Doesn’t she know that that’s what I want for her? Well, how could she, I never told her. I wish I had. I wish she knew. I should have known how much I would regret all of these things if something like this happened. I just never thought it would. I should have known better, the unthinkable always happens. Right when you get comfortable, happy, content, it jumps out of the bushes and grabs you from behind. The universe hates me, always has. I just never thought it would do this to her. It should love her. How could you not? You can’t, that’s the only answer to that question. You can’t not love her. It’s impossible in every way. It’s unthinkable.   
I’m stuck here narrating my mistakes; she’s trapped there dwindling away. She hardly eats anymore, barely sleeps. She’s getting sick. She doesn’t have anyone to take care of her. Her mum is in the other universe. She’s all alone. I wish I could tell Jack somehow, or Sarah Jane. I need someone to save her, she saved me and now I can’t even do that for her. I’m the one she needs the saving from after all. Maybe someone will find her. Rescue her. All I can do is watch, hope, and wish. I need her to be okay, to keep going. I don’t want to see her here, not yet. She’s got so much time left, so much life to live.   
I wish I could tell her.


	3. authors note

Authors Note: Thanks so much for reading and reviewing and everything! I really appreciate it! I am going to try to update this everyday but life happens so. I just wanted to clear up any confusion about the pov’s. Roses parts are in the present and are kind of just fluffy stories that will build up and are kind of just about their lives but with twists and turns and plot points and all that good stuff. Ten’s parts are in italics and are him looking back on their life with regret and a sad kind of happy and that’s all I’m going to say about his because secrets. Hope you like it! Please review! Thanks!


	4. Domestic

We’re just back in the old swing of things. It took all of ten seconds to get back to being us. We’ve already gone to four new planets and two trips to the past. I haven’t slept in days. I don’t mind at all, of course I don’t. We’re having an in day today. Just hanging around the Tardis. He even slept a bit with me. That sounded odd. Not what I meant, though I wouldn’t mind—never mind. We were in the library reading next to the warm fire. We had tea and biscuits and contentment. I’ve never been happier, sometimes domestics nice. Especially when it’s with the Doctor. I fell asleep and when I woke up a short time later there he was. Fast asleep, head lying on my side. We were curled around each other in what shouldn’t have been a comfortable position but it was. Of course it was. He woke up about five seconds after I did. I guess he heard me. He started telling me stories of Gallifrey and the mates he had while I was gone. I wish I had met Donna. She sounds like my kind of woman. Bossing him around, sassy, and funny. It’s sad, what happened to her. I felt like crying, but I didn’t. Now I’m alone, in my room. It’s just the same as I left it. It smells a bit more like him, though. I like that. It makes me a bit sad, to think he might have stayed in here when I was taken away. I was taken. I didn’t leave.   
I’m trying to sleep, I am. Maybe I can go in there and say I was having nightmares and… No, that’s a bad idea. Maybe it’s not, maybe he wouldn’t mind. Maybe he thinks about things like that too. If’s and maybe’s are all I’ve got unless I do something. What would I have a nightmare about? Maybe an alien attack, mum dying or…GOT IT.   
I walk down the hall as quietly as I can. I don’t know why, I’m going to wake him anyway, but I do. There isn’t a sound in the place and it’s a kind of unnerving. I don’t know why that is either. I guess it’s because I feel like I’m doing something I shouldn’t. Like a kid sneaking down to open Christmas early or catch Santa in the act. There it is. There’s his room. Should I knock? Should I even be doing this? No. I hear him wake up and walk towards the door and I sprint back to my room like I’m about to be killed. I leap into bed and dive underneath the covers just as he opens the door. I hope he doesn’t notice how hard I’m breathing from my little escapade but I’m sure he does. This is the man who can feel the turn of the Earth so I doubt he wouldn’t pick up on a little heavy breathing. He walks away anyway and I silently thank the Gods and all that. ”That was close.” I mumble as I close my eyes and laugh at myself.   
I wake up to this absolutely wonderful smell. I didn’t know he could cook. Can he cook? Maybe the Tardis does it somehow, like on Star Trek. Whatever it is it smells like it tastes delicious. I pull on a loose cotton robe and wander into the kitchen. He is cooking! Actually flipping food in pans and all that!   
“You cook?” I say, astonished.   
“Don’t look so surprised!” He says, a bit offended. I laugh; he’s got a whole lot of food spread across the counter and two plates at the table. I see two cups of tea and smile lovingly at him. I suddenly feel very hungry and have to ask.   
“What are you making, or really what aren’t you making?” I question, gesturing to the huge spread in the kitchen. I don’t even want to look at the mess or the sink. I’ll be cleaning later after all.   
“Oh, a bit of this a bit of that.” He says vaguely, smiling to himself as he takes my plate and piles a load of breakfast on it and hands it to me, doing the same with his. He sits down grinning proudly. The plate is the most colorful thing I’ve ever seen. It’s got everything on it, from hash browns and eggs to some radiantly colored alien cuisine. I grin at down at the food.  
“Thank you, it’s lovely.” I smile at him and he seems pleased with my reaction. We dig in whole-heartedly; again this is domestic.   
“Did you sleep okay?” He asks with a quirk of his lips. I look at him suspiciously as I finish chewing my food.  
“Yeah… you?” He laughs a little to himself and you can barely tell. But I saw it.   
“Yeah I slept great until…” Oh god he knows! He heard me up and saw me breathing all hard. Oh god what am I going to do? I’m in for it now.   
“Until what?” I say a bit to quickly. He noticed. He’s grinning.  
“Until I was woken up by noises by my bedroom, so I went to the door but no one was there. I went to your room to check on you. It could have been a burglar.” He says smiling into his next bite. I roll my eyes and frown. He knows. Of course he would.   
“A burglar on the Tardis, when pigs fly.” I mumble.   
“Actually there’s a planet with—“   
“Oh, shut up!” I groan and throw a breakfast roll at him. He laughs and I try really hard to keep a frown but I smile a bit. It’s hard not to smile with him around, even if you’re getting attacked by werewolves or banished by the Queen all in the same day. Trust me we’ve done that. I smile to myself then.   
“What?” He asks I shake my head a laugh. “What?” He is smiling now too.   
“It’s nothing I was just thinking about that time with the Queen and the werewolf and all that.” I giggle. He laughs big. He nods in remembrance of that day. That was one of my favorite days. He get’s up and starts to gather up all the plates and I get up to help him but he shoos me away so I go to the library again. I like it there. It reminds me of him somehow. All that knowledge, useless and useful, all of it brilliant and wonderful, fiction and fact all blended into one place. It’s warm and comfy. It’s him, if he were a room… I always liked having a library in Pete’s World. I would stay there all the time. I never really knew why I liked it so much because I ‘ve never really read much, well now I do. I think that’s because of him. Books and library’s are a way for me to be close to him somehow. I like that, a home away from home sort of thing. I sit there drowning in my thoughts until he comes in bearing gifts of hot chocolate, stories, and home. I love him.


	5. A Blanket of Memories

The Queen’s face that day was priceless. Rose and I were laughing so hard over the whole werewolf situation. She was shocked, appalled, and everything in between. I loved that day, everyday with her really. When she went away I would go to this planet covered in rose fields but they weren’t thorny bushels of roses, they were individual and free of thorns, beautiful and soft. That place calmed me down, just like she did. I miss it there. I wish I could have taken her there, or at least told her about it. I would go when I had taken too much or missed her more than usual, if that was possible, when something hurt too much or didn’t make sense. I would go and I would breathe. It reminded me of her and how I felt when I was with her, able to breathe.   
I remember cooking all that food and how hard it was. It took me forever to do, but I didn’t mind since it was for her. I hardly even noticed. I went to different planets and got the royal chef of each one to cook the things I couldn’t. Of course I didn’t cook it all. She thought I did though. I hoped to tell her I didn’t, one day when we were older. When she looked old and I didn’t, when we sat in a cozy home we built somewhere. We didn’t get that far though. I wish we had. She loved that food. I’m glad. I heard her get up the night before and come to my room. I barely saw her as she sprinted away from the door. I remember coming back to my room and laughing. She was breathing so hard and hiding under the covers hoping I didn’t notice. Of course I did. I think she wanted to climb into bed with me. Not that way, but I wouldn’t have minded either way. I can say things like that now. I wish she had known I wouldn’t have minded, that I would have been pleased. I would have smiled and wrapped my arms around her, or at least I would have wanted to.   
I still want to. Maybe especially now, now that she lies cold and alone dead to herself and dead to the world. I want to wrap my arms around her and keep her warm and safe, to be her blanket. I was to kiss her head a whisper little things in her ear. I want the whole domestic thing, only with her. We’d still go on adventures, of course we would. Maybe domestic, for us, for me, was a whole adventure on it’s own. I’ll never know. We’ll never know. I wouldn’t give up the times I had with her for anything. I would, however, give up anything to add some. Even it was just to the time we already had.   
I wish I could go back.


End file.
